TANDBERG D13639 User Manual

TANDBERG MPS API

User Guide

TANDBERG

D13639 Rev 07

March 2008

TANDBERG MPS API

User Guide

Table of Contents

User Guide................................................................................................................................. 1

1 The TANDBERG API.............................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Introduction to XML.......................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Introduction to XML Path Language (XPath)................................................................... 5

1.3 The TANDBERG XML Engine......................................................................................... 7

1.4 The XML Documents....................................................................................................... 9

1.5 Introduction to TANDBERG XML API Service (TXAS).................................................. 14

1.6 Exercises........................................................................................................................ 15

2 The XML-based Advanced Command Line Interface .......................................................... 17

2.1 XACLI.............................................................................................................................18

2.2 The Status-type root commands – xstatus / xhistory..................................................... 21

2.3 The Configuration-type root commands - xconfiguration/xdirectory.............................. 23

2.4 The Command-type root commands - xcommand ........................................................ 26

2.5 XML Output - xgetxml.................................................................................................... 29

2.6 Special Commands........................................................................................................ 30

3 API - Configurations ............................................................................................................. 36

3.1 configuration.xml – xconfiguration ................................................................................. 37

3.2 directory.xml – xdirectory............................................................................................... 46

4 API - Commands...................................................................................................................47

4.1 command.xml – xcommand........................................................................................... 48

5 API - Status........................................................................................................................... 63

5.1 status.xml – xstatus ....................................................................................................... 64

5.2 history.xml – xhistory ..................................................................................................... 79

5.3 Event.xml – xevent......................................................................................................... 80

1 The TANDBERG API

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This document is a guide to the API interface of the TANDBERG MPS products. All rights reserved. This document contains information that is proprietary to TANDBERG. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of TANDBERG. Nationally and internationally recognized trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

Disclaimer

The information in this document is furnished for informational purposes only, is subject to change without prior notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by TANDBERG. The information in this document is believed to be accurate and reliable; however TANDBERG assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document, nor for any infringements of patents or other rights of third parties resulting from its use. No license is granted under any patents or patent rights of TANDBERG.

This document was written by the Research and Development Department of TANDBERG, Norway. We are committed to maintaining a high level of quality in all our documentation. Towards this effort, we welcome your comments and suggestions regarding the content and structure of this document. Please fax or mail your comments and suggestions to the attention of:

Research and Development Department TANDBERG Philip Pedersen vei 22 1366 Lysaker Norway Tel: +47 67 125 125 Fax: +47 67 125 234

1.1 Introduction to XML

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XML is a markup language for documents containing structured information. All information elements in an XML document are marked by a tag and a corresponding end-

tag. The end-tag has the same name as the tag, but is prefixed with a slash, “/”. All tags are put within angular brackets (“< >”).

Example 1.1

Below is an example of how configurations of a Serial Port could be represented using XML.

From the tree structure of this example we can see that BaudRate, Parity, Databits, StopBits and Mode are properties of the SerialPort. We can distinguish between

container-elements and value-elements. Container-elements contain one or more subelements, while value-elements contain a value. This is analogous to files and folders on a computer. Container-elements are folders that can contain sub-folders and files, while valueelements are files containing data. In the XML structure for the Serial Port we see that the container-element SerialPort contains five sub-elements. All these sub-elements are value-elements, each holding values for the properties: BaudRate, Parity, DataBits, StopBits and Mode.

Example 1.2

In this example we will look at element attributes. Attributes are used to add meta information to an element. Attributes are placed within the start tag of an element and different attributes are separated by space.

An XML structure representing the status of a call in a videoconferencing system is shown below:

We can see from the status attribute of the Call element that the call is disconnected. The only relevant information regarding this call is the disconnect cause value. Therefore the substructure of the call element contains only one value-element.

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Example 1.3

If we now look at the call element for an active call we see that call element contains a large sub-structure:

In this example, the attributes are used to provide valuable information in addition to establishing a dependency to the underlying sub-structure of the element.

Example 1.4

In the above examples, all elements are having an attribute named item. This attribute specifies the instance number of the element. If we expand Example 1.1 to a system having two serial ports, the XML structure could look like this:

<Configuration> <SerialPort item="1"> <BaudRate item="1">9600</BaudRate> <Parity item="1">None</Parity> <DataBits item="1">8</DataBits> <StopBits item="1">1</StopBits> <Mode item="1">Control</Mode> </SerialPort> <SerialPort item="2"> <BaudRate item="1">19200</BaudRate> <Parity item="1">None</Parity> <DataBits item="1">8</DataBits>

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1.2 Introduction to XML Path Language (XPath)

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XPath is a comprehensive language to address data in XML documents. It is though very simple to understand the basics. If you are able to specify the path to a file on your computer, you are able to specify the path to an element in a XML structure.

Example 1.5 Let us go back to the serial port configurations of Example 1.1.

To specify the path to the SerialPort element we simply start at the root level and separate the levels in the tree structure by a slash (“/”):

Configuration/SerialPort The path to the BaudRate element is:

Configuration/SerialPort/BaudRate

Example 1.6 To address a specific item of an element, the item number is added within brackets (“[]”) after

the element name. The path to the BaudRate element of SerialPort item 2 in Example 1.4 is:

Configuration/SerialPort[2]/BaudRate

If the item number is omitted for an element, all items of this element will be addressed. The following expression addresses the BaudRate element of both serial ports:

Configuration/SerialPort/BaudRate

Example 1.7 When using XPath it is possible to omit specifying intermediate levels in the address

expression. By using the powerful “double slash” you can address elements without having to specify the complete path. The expression below addresses the BaudRate element of both serial ports of Example 1.4:

Configuration//BaudRate

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Example 1.8 XPath also supports addressing by putting constraints on element attributes. Let’s go back to

the Call element in Example 1.2. The below expression will address the CallRate element of all Synced calls in a system:

Status/Call[@status=”Synced”]/CallRate

To add more constraints on element attributes, XPath supports boolean expressions. To address all Synced H323 calls in a system, the following expression can be used:

Status/Call[@status=”Synced” AND @protocol=”H323”]/CallRate

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1.3 The TANDBERG XML Engine

The TANDBERG XML engine is optimized for advanced machine-machine interaction between a TANDBERG system and an external control application. The main features can be summarized to:

• Structuring of information

• Addressing using XPath

• Feedback

1.3.1 Structuring of Information

An application programming interface can be seen as a gate where information is exchanged between two systems - a control application and a target system. The control application transmits instructions to the target system, while the target system supplies information about how these instructions are executed, in addition to other system related information. Thus, the exchange of information can be divided into:

1. information flowing from target, hereby called read information (r)

2. information flowing to target, hereby called write information (w)

If we now look at the TANDBERG systems we can identify three main types of information, either being read information (r), write information (w) or read-write information (rw):

1. (r) Read information – Status Information. Information about the system and system processes, i.e. information generated by the system. F.ex. status about ongoing calls, network status, conference status etc. All status information is structured in a hierarchy, making up a database constantly beeing updated by the system to reflect process changes.

2. (w) Write information – Command Information. Information supplied by the user to initiate an action. F.ex. instructing the system to place a call, assigning floor to a specific site, disconnecting a site etc. A command is usually followed by a set of parameters to specify how the given action is to be executed.

3. (rw) Read-Write information – Configuration Information. Information defining system settings. This information can both be supplied and read by the user. F.ex. default callrate, baudrate of a serial port, enabling/disabling of various features etc. All configuration information is structured in a hierarchy making up a database of system settings. But for the Configuration information, the data in the database can only be updated by the user/control application.

1.3.2 Addressing using XPath

To address information in the hierarchic structure of Status and Configuration informatio n the TANDBERG systems support abbreviated XML Path Language (XPath). This allows the user/control application to address everything from a single element of data, f.ex. the callrate of a specific call, to larger parts of the hierarchy, f.ex. all information available for a given call.

The structuring of information together with XPath for addressing makes up powerful features like searching and setting of multiple instances of a configuration.

1.3.3 Feedback

Feedback is an extremely powerful feature where the TANDBERG system actively returns updated status and configuration information to the user/control application whenever changes occur. The user/control application can specify what parts of the status and

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configuration hierarchies it wants to monitor by using XPath. The user/control application can therefore limit the amount of information it receives from the target system to only those parts being of interest for the given application.

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1.4 The XML Documents

1.4.1 Documents

The XML Data in the TANDBERG systems are divided into three main types of documents. The division is based on whether the information is Read Information, Write Information or Read-Write information:

1. Status documents (r): Documents holding all available Status Information in the system. Supported documents:

a. status.xml b. history.xml

2. Configuration documents (rw): Documents holding all system configurations. Supported documents:

a. configuration.xml b. directory.xml

3. Command documents (w): Documents defining the supported system commands used to initiate system processes. This is write data, i.e. the parameter values for a given command are defined by the user and posted to the system. The posted values will not be returned when reading the document from the system. Reading a command document from the system returns descriptions of the supported commands with empty parameter values. Supported documents:

a. command.xml

4. Meta Documents: Meta documents contain information that can be referenced by other documents, e.g. value domains of configurations or command parameters. Supported Meta Documents:

a. valuespace.xml

1.4.2 Status Documents (r)

The Status Documents are characterised by an extensive use of XML attributes. In addition to holding information, the attributes are used to reflect the structure of the sub-elements, which are dependent on the state of the system.

Example 9 The element Call will contain different sub elements depending on the call state, call type or

direction:

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---

--<Call item="6" status="Disconnected" type="NA" protocol="NA" direction="NA"> <Cause item="1">255</Cause> </Call>

In the above example we see that the Bonding element, RemoteNumber[2] and SubAddress is not present for H323 calls. On the other hand, for H323 calls, the Audio

channel element holds information regarding packet loss etc., which is not present for H320 calls. If the call is disconnected, the Call element only contains the disconnect cause value.

1.4.3 Configuration documents (rw)

The structure of the Configuration documents is independent of system state, i.e. the structure will be constant in time. In addition to holding the values for the various

configurations, each configuration value-element includes an attribute, valueSpaceRef referencing the value domain for the configuration.

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Example 10 From the XML structure below we see that the BaudRate element of SerialPort[1] is

configured to 9600. The BaudRate element references the SerialPortBaudrate element in the ValueSpace document, showing the value domain for this configuration.

---

To change configurations, the part(s) of the document containing the configurations to be updated should be posted back to the system with the new values. This will be described thoroughly in a later section.

1.4.4 Command documents (w)

Command documents contain descriptions of the supported command s for the system. A Command consists of a Command name and a set of Command parameters. Th e parameter elements have attributes to denote whether the parameter is optional or required, in a addition to referencing the value domain for the given parameter. Command parameters do not contain any values when read from the system.

Example 11 The command Dial is defined to take five parameters, while only the Number parameter is

required as specified by the attribute required. The value domain for the parameters is referenced by the attribute valueSpaceRef.

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To issue a command, the command structure is posted back to the system together with values for the various parameters. Optional parameters can be omitted when posting the structure back to the system.

Example 12 To place a call to number 999 the user can simply post the following XML structure to the

system:

When issuing Commands, the system will ret urn an XML structure in response. The response structure will have the same name as the command issued, but it will be post fixed with “Result”. All commands will have an attribute named status, stating whether the command was accepted or not. If a command is not accepted, the response structure will contain a cause code. If the command is accepted, the response structure may contain information relevant for the specific command.

Example 13 The Dial command in the above example may return the following response structure:

The response structure for the Dial command, DialResult, states that the command was accepted by the system. In addition to stating that the command was accepted, the Dial command returns the elements CallRef and LogTag. This lets the user identify/trace the call in the Status documents (status.xml and history.xml).

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Example 14 Below is an example of the Dial command, not being accepted by the system:

<Command> <DialResult item="1" status="Error"> <Cause item="1">17</Cause > <Description item="1">Too much bandwidth requested</Description > </DialResult> </Command>

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1.5 Introduction to TANDBERG XML API Service (TXAS)

TXAS is a service provided by TANDBERG units for transmitting and receiving (transceiving) information encoded in XML format. The API uses HTTP(S) as the transport mechanism and connects to the normal web port (80). TXAS can be accessed in two ways; bare-bone HTTP requests where URL’s uniquely identifies the request, and SOAP where a single URI is used but the request itself is encoded with XML.

1.5.1 Bare-bone HTTP(S) access

The bare-bone HTTP mode uses a unique URL to identify the specific request. The contents of the HTTP body will be a XML document (or part of it). Bare-bone HTTP(S) access is accomplished by passing arguments in the query string (after '?' in URL) in a GET request, or using the "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" content-type mehtod of POSTing form data (Each argument starts with a name '=' and a value, and every parameter separated with '&' (and opt NL).)

getxml

REQUEST: /getxml PARAM: location = X

"/getxml" request returns an XML document based on the location parameter passed to the request. The elements (or complete document) matching the expression will be returned. On Incorrect XPath expression, a <Fault> element with a <XPathError> element will be returned.

Path expression

formputxml

REQUEST: /formputxml PARAM: xmldoc = "an XML do

This is most useful in a POST (to extend character limit of 255 of GET urls). It posts a Configuration or Command document to set the configurations or issue a command. Like getxml, it has the data URL form-data encoded with one single parameter. The ContentType of the document must be of type “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” and the body must be encoded accordingly (e.g. first line will be xmldoc=<then the document>).

putxml

REQUEST: /putxml PARAM: HTTP BODY as arg

Putxml is like "formputxml", put uses the complete BODY as argument (i.e. the content of the xmldoc parameter). The Content-type should be "text/xml" or "application/xml" (or "text/plain"), though no check at the moment. (Except for application/x-www-form-urlencoded, this will cause a failure).

cument of Configuration, Directory or Command"

ument

1.6 Exercises

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The exercises in this section are based on using a TANDBERG 6000 MXP codec an d Microsoft Internet Explorer. Some of the examples may however also apply to other systems and other browsers.

NOTE! Replace the ip address, 10.47.8.41, in the below examples with the ip address of your system.

Exercise 1

The example in this exercise shows how to read the supported XML documents from the system using a web browser. Enter the following address in the browsers address field:

http://10.47.8.41/status.xml http://10.47.8.41/history.xml http://10.47.8.41/configuration.xml http://10.47.8.41/directory.xml http://10.47.8.41/command.xml http://10.47.8.41/valuespace.xml

Exercise 2

This exercise shows how to use getxml to read the supported XML documents from the system. Enter the following expressions in the browsers address field (NOTE! The first letter in the document names is uppercase):

http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=Status http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=History http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=Configuration http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=Directory http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=Command http://10.47.8.41/ getxml?location=ValueSpace

Exercise 3

This exercise shows how to use XPath expressions to read subsets of the XML documents. http://10.47.8.41/getxml?location=Status/SystemUnit

http://10.47.8.41/getxml?location=Configuration/SerialPort/BaudRate http://10.47.8.41/getxml?location=ValueSpace/SerialPortBaudrate[@item='1’] http://10.47.8.41/getxml?location=Configuration//Mode http://10.47.8.41/getxml?location=Command/Dial

Exercise 4

The address: http://10.47.8.41/xmlput.ssi contains an editor where XML data can be edited and then posted to the system by pressing the save button. Below are examples of XML structures to be posted to the system:

---

---

---

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2 The XML-based Advanced Command Line Interface

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The XML-based Advanced Command Line Interface, XACLI, is a very flexible interface both optimized for machine-machine interaction and man-machine interaction. It is based on the powerful TANDBERG XML engine and offers many of the same features as the TANDBERG XML interface.

The main distinction between XACLI and the TANDBERG XML interface is the input format. As XACLI is a command line interface all inputs from the user/control application have to be put on one line, in opposite to the XML interface where a complete XML document can be posted to the system in one operation.

A basic understanding of the information structuring in the TANDBERG XML engine is importa nt in order to get the most out of the XACLI interface. It is therefore recommended to read the documentation of the TANDBERG XML API prior to reading this section.

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2.1 XACLI

2.1.1 Accessing XACLI

XACLI can be accessed through Telnet via the LAN interface or through RS-232 by connecting a serial cable to the serial interface connector, referred to as the Dataport. 48 Telnet sessions can be active at the same time in addition to the RS-232 connection.

2.1.2 Root commands

For each of the XML documents supported by the system, there is a corresponding XACLI root command. The root command has the same name as the corresponding XML document, except that the root command is prefixed by an “x”:

XML document XACLI root command status.xml xstatus history.xml xhistory configuration.xml xconfiguration directory.xml xdirectory command.xml xcommand

The information in the TANDBERG XML engine is divided into three main types: Status Information, Configuration Information and Command Information, ref. the documentation of the TANDBERG XML API.

As there is a fundamental difference in these three main types of information, there is also three different ways of working with the information using XACLI.

2.1.3 Addressing

XACLI supports XPath for addressing Status Information and Configuration Information. In addition there is support for the proprietary TANDBERG SimplePath notation. With SimplePath notation an element or a group of elements are addressed by supplying a space separated list of element names (elemName) and optional element instance numbers (item ):

<elemName> [item] <elemName> [item] ... If the instance number of a given element is omitted, the expression addresses all instances of

this element

Example 2.1 To address the BaudRate sub-element of SerialPort 2: XPath: SerialPort[2]/BaudRate

SimplePath: SerialPort 2 BaudRate

To address the BaudRate sub-element of all SerialPort elements: XPath: SerialPort/BaudRate

SimplePath: SerialPort BaudRate

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2.1.4 Exposure options

By adding an exposure option after the address (XPath or SimplePath) expression, the system can be instructed to return only parts of the information within an element structure.

Supported exposure options:

“-“ hides all value elements

•

• “--" hides all sub-elements

Example 2.2 Request for Call 1 element with no exposure option

xstatus call 1

*s Call 1 (status=Synced, type=Vtlph, protocol=H323, direction=Outgoing): CallRate: 768 RemoteNumber: "10.47.15.127" Mute: Off Microphone: Off Duration: 10 Channels 1 (type=Incoming): Rate: 768 Restrict: Off Encryption (status=Off): / Audio (status=Active): Protocol: G722 Rate: 64 Video 1 (status=Active): Protocol: H263 Resolution: CIF Rate: 704 Video 2 (status=Inactive): / Data (status=Inactive): / Channels 2 (type=Outgoing): Rate: 768 Restrict: Off Encryption (status=Off): / Audio (status=Active): Protocol: G722 Rate: 64 Video 1 (status=Active): Protocol: H263+ Resolution: ICIF Rate: 704 Video 2 (status=Inactive): / Data (status=Inactive): / *s/end

Request for Call 1 element with exposure option “-“:

xstatus call 1 -

*s Call 1 (status=Synced, type=Vtlph, protocol=H323, direction=Outgoing): Channels 1 (type=Incoming): Encryption (status=Off): /

Audio (status=Active): Video 1 (status=Active): Video 2 (status=Inactive): / Data (status=Inactive): / Channels 2 (type=Outgoing): Encryption (status=Off): / Audio (status=Active): Video 1 (status=Active): Video 2 (status=Inactive): / Data (status=Inactive): / *s/end

Request for Call 1 element with exposure option “--“:

xstatus call 1 --

*s Call 1 (status=Synced, type=Vtlph, protocol=H323, direction=Outgoing): *s/end

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2.1.5 Misc

The XACLI interface is not case sensitive. XACLI allows using only partial names.

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2.2 The Status-type root commands – xstatus / xhistory

The information accessible through these commands is the exact same information that is available in the corresponding XML documents.

To get an overview of accessible top-level elements within a status-type root command, type ? or help after the status-type root command.

Example 2.3

xstatus ?

- Status -

Call [1..188] MediaBoard [1..12] Conference [1..40] NTP Ethernet Options ExternalManager SerialInterfaceCard [1..6] Feedback [1..3] SIP GatewayCall [1..80] SystemActivity H323Gatekeeper SystemClock IP SystemLoad ISDNInterfaceCard [1..6] SystemUnit

To access status-type data, simply type the status-type root command (xstatus or xhistory) and then an XPath address expression or a TANDBERG SimplePath expression:

<status-type root command> <address expression>

Example 2.4

xstatus call 1 remotenumber

*s Call 1 (status=Synced, type=Vtlph, protocol=H323, direction=Outgoing): RemoteNumber: "10.47.15.127" *s/end

2.2.1 Format

Status information is presented by a mark-up notation, similar to XML. Main differences:

o all braces are removed in the XACLI format o XACLI is not using end-tags, except for a tag to mark end of top element

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o XACLI is using indent spaces to present the data structure o XACLI hides instance number (item number in XML) of an element if there only exist

one instance of a given element

o A status top level element starts with “*s”

Example 2.5 shows XML formatting and XACLI formatting for the same status element, IP.

Example 2.5 XML:

XACLI:

*s IP: Address: "10.47.8.20" SubnetMask: "255.255.248.0" Gateway: "10.47.8.1" *s/end

NOTE! To write a parser for the XACLI format, the parser must keep track of the levels by counting white spaces. The indent is increased by two whitespaces for each level.

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The information accessible through these commands is the exact same information that is available in the corresponding XML documents.

To get an overview of accessible top-level configuration elements, type ? or help after the configuration-type root command:

<configuration-type root command> ?

Example 2.6

xconfiguration ?

- User Configurations -

AllowIncomingTlphCall HTTPS RTP AllowNTSCCP

Conference [1..40] IPProtocol Session ConferenceTemplate [1..10] Ethernet [1..2] LoS SIP ExternalManager MCU SNMP FeedbackFilter MediaBoard [1..12] SSH Gateway NetProfile [1..7] STUN H323CallSetup [1..2] NTP SystemClock H323Gatekeeper [1..2] PrefixDialIn SystemUnit HTTP QoS [1..2] Telnet

xdirectory ?

- Directory -

LocalEntry [1..250]

IP [1..2]

ISDNInterfaceCard [1..6]

SerialInterfaceCard [1..6]

SingleNumberDialIn

2.3.1 Configuration help

To get help on configurations, type the configuration-type root command – then an address expression followed by ? or help. The possible values for the elements matching the address expression will be returned.

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<configuration-type root command> <address expr> ?/help

Example 2.7 User wants to configure IP:

xconfiguration ip ? *h xConfiguration IP Assignment: <DHCP/Static> *h xConfiguration IP Address: <IPAddr> *h xConfiguration IP SubnetMask: <IPAddr> *h xConfiguration IP Gateway: <IPAddr>

NOTE! Only typing xconfiguration ?, actually addresses all configuration elements within the xconfiguration root command. One would therefore expect that help on all configurations would be returned. But as described above, this is a special case and only listings of the top level elements are returned. To get help on all configurations supported by the system, type:

xconfiguration // ?

xconfiguration ??

2.3.2 Configuration read

To read configurations, type the configuration-type root command followed by an address expression:

<configuration-type root command> <address expr>

Example 2.8 User wants to read IP configurations:

xconfiguration ip *c xConfiguration IP Assignment: Static *c xConfiguration IP Address: "10.47.8.20" *c xConfiguration IP SubnetMask: "255.255.248.0" *c xConfiguration IP Gateway: "10.47.8.1"

2.3.3 Configuration set (write)

To set configurations, the address expression following the configuration-type root command must end with a colon. The value to be set must be added after the colon:

<configuration-type root command> <address expr>: value

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